Sicily yacht sinking updates: trapped passengers ‘may have died on Bayesian because they were asleep’ | Italy
Passengers may have died because they were asleep, prosecutor says
Passengers may not have been able to escape from the yacht because they were asleep, Raffaele Cammarano, the prosecutor of the case has said.
Rear Admiral Raffaele Macauda (right) speaking during a press conference Photograph: Jonathan Brady/PA
He suggested the victims “were asleep whereas the others weren’t”.
He was asked if there was anyone at the time available to alert them.
Through a translation of the conference Mr Cammarano said: “That is precisely what we are trying to ascertain from the statements made during the interrogation of the survivors - an essential point in the inquiry obviously.”
Key events
Closing summary
We’re closing our live coverage of the sinking of the Bayesian for today. In case you missed anything, here’s a quick round-up of all the latest developments.
Officials confirmed at a press conference that seven people died in the incident, while 15 people survived
Among those killed were British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah
Prosecutors said they had opened an initial investigation into manslaughter and negligent shipwreck
Ambrogio Cartosio, public prosecutor in the Sicilian town of Termini Imerese, said he believed it was “probable that offences were committed”
The coastguard’s Rear Admiral Raffaele Macauda said the weather on the night of the sinking was “abnormal” but that there “wasn’t anything to suggest there could be an extreme situation arising”
The yacht rolled onto its right side as it sank, and six of the seven bodies recovered were found in cabins on its left, officials said
Prosecutors also said the incident happened “really, really suddenly” and that it was possible the ship was hit by a downburst, a powerful gush of wind that descends from a thunderstorm and spreads out quickly from its area of impact
At present, it is only the Italian authorities working on the investigation, but Mr Cartosio told reporters earlier that it may also involve agencies from other countries.
“I cannot tell you with any certainty that the inquiry will be exclusively Italian,” he said.
“There will be developments, I’m sure, on that score.”
Asked whether the surviving members of the ship’s crew would be required to remain in Sicily while the investigation is carried out, Mr Cartosio said the law did not require them to do so.
“But we require them to be available at earliest convenience of the prosecution,” he said.
“Of course it will be necessary to ask some other questions.”
The Bayesian visited the city of Cefalù on northern coast of Sicily on Sunday, Mr Cammarano also said.
“From the statements we have got, the ship stopped the day before the wreck at Cefalù,” he said.
“Some of the passengers left and then after that went on board again.”
No information has yet been gathered from the bodies recovered from the wreck, Mr Cammarano told the briefing.
Asked whether post-mortem examinations have yet been conducted, he said: “There are a whole number of preliminary stages to go through before the autopsies.”
Obstacles that blocked the way to the wreck of the Bayesian made the recovery operation “particularly difficult”, a senior diver has said.
Guiseppe Petrone, chief of the fire brigades’ divers’ section, said the wreck presented an “unusual kind of scenario” and that divers had been unable to spend a long time on each dive.
“There was all the obstacles to getting in the vessel and of course all the safety measures had to be properly observed. That is to say, not risking [the divers’] lives,” he said.
“So it was particularly difficult and it was very slow, very slow work, especially since it required lengthy periods to remove the obstacles to the cabins.”
Prosecutor says it is ‘probable’ offences were committed
Back now to today’s press conference in Sicily.
Mr Cartosio, who you may remember is the chief public prosecutor, said he thought it was “probable that offences were committed” surrounding the sinking of the yacht.
Prosecutor Raffaele Cammarano (L) and the chief of the public prosecutor's office of Termini Imerese Ambrogio Cartosio (R) at the press conference Photograph: Alessandro Fucarini/AFP/Getty Images
According to a live translation provided by the BBC, he told reporters that the sinking could have been the responsibility of the captain, crew, individuals in charge of supervision, the shipbuilder, or others. But he did point out it may take some time for the investigation to come to a conclusion
He added: “We will establish each element’s responsibility - that will be done by the inquiry, so we can’t do that prematurely.
“For me, it is probable that offences were committed - that it could be a case of manslaughter - but we can only establish that if you give us the time to investigate.”
Hannah Lynch was the last person recovered from the sunken yacht to have been identified yesterday.
Friends and family of the 18-year-old have described her as “endlessly caring” and easy to love”.
Mike and Hannah Lynch Photograph: AP
Her sister, Esme, said she was “the most amazing, supportive and joyful sister”, adding: “Hannah often burst into my bedroom and lay down with me.
“Sometimes beaming with a smile, sometimes cheeky, sometimes for advice. No matter what, she brought boundless love to me.”
Friend Gracie Lea said that, when she thought of Hannah, she thought of “poetry, sunshine and her beautiful eyes”.
“She was easy to love: sincere, dedicated, fiercely intelligent and genuinely kind. I’ll always remember her smiling,” she said.
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Yacht was hit by downburst, say officials
The Bayesian is believed to have capsized after being hit by a downburst amid a storm, officials have said.
Downbursts are meteorological phenomena in which a powerful winds descends from a thunderstorm and spreads out quickly from its area of impact.
Mr Cammarano told the press conference that “from the information we have, it is a downburst we are talking about”.
It is not yet possible to say for certain when the first distress signal was sent from the boat, Mr Macauda said.
“It is normal when there is imminent danger to send distress signals,” he said. That is what alerted the port authorities to come to the scene.
“It may be that there was an error in manipulation given the speed of events and it meant that an emergency distress signal was not launched properly or at the right time.
“We can’t reconstruct all these details, I’m afraid at the moment. We can’t say exactly at what time the first distress signal was launched.”
